Novel thin-film CuInSe sub 2 fabrication

Technical Report · Sat Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990

OSTI ID:6568328

Mooney, G D ^[1]; Hermann, A M ^[2]

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1. Arkansas Univ., Fayetteville, AR (USA)
2. Colorado Univ., Boulder, CO (USA)

This report describes work to study the feasibility of fabricating CuInSe{sub 2} (CIS), to be used in photovoltaic cells, by rapid annealing processes including laser processing and rapid thermal processing (RTP). Presently, the chalcopyrite phase of CIS is obtained by thermally annealing elemental Cu and In layers in H{sub 2}Se gas. This process is hazardous because of the high toxicity of the hydrogen selenide gas, making the process unattractive for large-scale production. The ability to form the desired chalcopyrite structure with favorable optical and electrical properties by rapid annealing processes would be safer and more conducive to large-scale production. Initial studies of the feasibility of laser annealing the elemental layered structures have been performed using CW argon and Nd:Yag lasers on films fabricated by thermal resistance evaporation in a vacuum of 10{sup {minus}6} torr. Characterization of the post- annealed films by x-ray diffraction analysis has shown encouraging results. The laser annealed films have all contained the chalcopyrite phase of CIS, although the percentage of the chalcopyrite phase has been small. Undesirable binary compounds have also formed. To produce higher-quality films, future work will concentrate on increasing the percentage of the desirable phase and eliminating all binary compounds. 4 figs.

• Research Organization: Solar Energy Research Inst., Golden, CO (USA); Arkansas Univ., Fayetteville, AR (USA); Colorado Univ., Boulder, CO (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/CE
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-83CH10093
• OSTI ID: 6568328
• Report Number(s): SERI/TP-211-3864; ON: DE90000345; CNN: XL-8-18017-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
140600 -- Solar Energy-- Photovoltaic Power Systems
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360601 -- Other Materials-- Preparation & Manufacture
ANNEALING
CHALCOGENIDES
CHALCOPYRITE
COHERENT SCATTERING
COPPER COMPOUNDS
COPPER SELENIDE SOLAR CELLS
COPPER SULFIDES
DIFFRACTION
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
EQUIPMENT
FABRICATION
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
FILMS
HEAT TREATMENTS
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INDIUM SELENIDE SOLAR CELLS
IRON COMPOUNDS
IRON SULFIDES
LASERS
MINERALS
NEODYMIUM LASERS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PROGRESS REPORT
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SCATTERING
SELENIUM COMPOUNDS
SELENIUM HYDRIDES
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOLID STATE LASERS
SULFIDE MINERALS
SULFIDES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
THERMOELECTRIC PROPERTIES
THIN FILMS
TOXICITY
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
X-RAY DIFFRACTION